First I must come clean. A lot of the stuff I’m going to write about is almost as new to me as it may be to you. I’m a pilgrim, wandering into the new marketing world and writing more about my experiences than my knowledge. I have a very specific set of prior experiences that probably wouldn’t do anyone any good if they read about them. What I have to offer is time to explore places that you might not have time to go yourself, a deep curiosity, and a fundamental ability to describe things well. You’ll find things here that feel almost as if they were copied from somewhere else. That’s because they were. You won’t find much attribution, not because it isn’t due, but simply because it would comprise half the book. I don’t have time for it and I doubt you do either. I’m not cutting and pasting (generally), I’m translating other people’s ideas and experiences into my language and filtering it through my own knowledge. Call it part of learning or call it plagiarism, it’s the core of every book, even pure fantasies. Marketing is not pure invention, born new every day. It’s all based on everything that went before. I’m simply not motivated to mask it. I’ll cite sources where I borrow so much that I embarrass myself, but that doesn’t happen often.
Probably the most important thing that I have learned in my dotage is the value of listening more than talking. For one thing it’s harder to make a fool of oneself, but it’s also much easier to make the things you say relevant to the person you say them to. The title of this book is descriptive of that core concept. Traditional marketers are generally like the irritating person in a conference room, not listening to anyone but the people they want to impress, waiting for you to stop talking so they can say something. Actually most marketers don’t wait. In traditional marketing most companies just talk–and to talk they interrupt. That’s all commercials and advertisements are: interruptions.
And then they lie.
Conversations have two elements, and listening is the most valuable part. You aren’t learning anything when you’re doing the talking. We spend money on focus groups so we can learn that nobody looks at pornography and everyone works out. If you really want to learn what features of your (and your competitors) products that infuriate users the truth is already out there in conversations already underway.
People are talking about you. Join the conversation. But first, LISTEN.
A focused effort at listening to your market creates the framework for truly integrated marketing. In the past marketers have talked a lot about integrating marketing initiatives, but the level of integration was functionally at the project level for one simple reason–the conversations were all one way. In this book we’ll explore integration at the strategic level, supported by rigorous methodologies, accurate testing, and demonstrated progress towards major goals.
Achieving great marketing results today requires an understanding of all the relevant venues and methods of marketing–both the newest tools and the old school. Failing to understand any useful component ignores opportunities for synergy and/or broader reach. It can put your company into a downward spiral of worsening results leading to decreased budgets, leading to worsening results.
I’m going to show you how to find your market wherever it roams, and gain its attention. We’ll show how and why content and creative are the new kings, how to use it, deploy it, reuse it, and optimize it. Then we’ll show you how to measure everything and compare oranges to tennis racquets. And finally we’ll show you the new ways that media placement works, and how to take advantage of market efficiencies to make your marketing budget go much, much further.
But it all starts with listening.